PRESS - Mendelssohn’s ‘scottish’ with ‘sweep and charm’

Kristiina looks back at her successful debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, a performance that captivated both audience and critics alike.

Journalist Janelle Gelfand: “Poska, a native of Estonia, made an impression in an engaging program for a spring morning at Music Hall. She opened with “Underneath the Sheen” by Julia Adolphe, a gifted composer who is known to Cincinnati audiences, notably for her 2023 May Festival co-commission, “Crown of Hummingbirds.” The first half included Chopin’s Concerto No. 2 in F Minor featuring French pianist Lise de la Salle. Poska concluded the morning with a heartwarming reading of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, known as the “Scottish.

Poska was an assured leader in the orchestra’s richly detailed performance. The opening, with its recitative-like phrases for the violins, was somber and expressive, and the string sound was sumptuous. The listener could enjoy Mendelssohn’s serene lyrical themes, expertly set against moments of agitated intensity.

Moving little as she conducted, Poska captured the dramatic sweep of the symphony’s four movements while warmly illuminating Mendelssohn’s lightness and charm. You could only smile at principal clarinetist Christopher Pell’s famous solo in the cheerful scherzo. The work was capped with a majestic hymn in the finale, and the listener could only marvel at this stroke of inspiration.

The orchestra has been sounding exceptional all season. The winds and brass ensembles were superb in this romantic work… The audience rose appreciatively with extended ovations.”